The Bobcat Nation

Maybe all of you knew this already, but I just stumbled across it. The MSU men's basketball team is fairly well known as the 1929 college national champions, but in 1930 they are credited with playing in what was dubbed as the national championship game against the Pitt Panthers. The Panthers won the game, played in Bozeman, on a last-second shot by hall of famer Chuck Hyatt.

The Bobcats went 21-10 that year coming off back-to-back 36-2 seasons in 1927-28 and 1928-29.

You can go to the Pitt Wikipedia page and see MSU referenced as playing in that game here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh ... basketball" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The 1929-30 National Championship team racked up wins that included the following:

Notre Dame
Fordham
@ Penn State
West Virginia
@ Temple
@ Army
@ Indiana
@ Northwestern
@ Iowa
Ohio State
Nebraska
Georgetown
@ Montana State (defending National Champions)


Although there was no NCAA Tournament at that time, there were contests billed as "National Championship Games". The 1930 game in particular helped Pittsburgh legend Charley Hyatt cement his place in history by scoring 27 points, including a last second game-winning shot, at the defending national champions and assumed #1 squad Montana State.[16]

You can also see them referenced in Hyatt's bio at the Naismith College Basketball Hall of Fame website here: http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/ ... huck-hyatt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the 1930 championship game, Hyatt scored 27 points against Hall of Famer John "Cat" Thompson and Montana State, including a last second basket in a 37-36 Pittsburgh victory.

Bozeman once played Pittsburgh for a national championship?

Researching that game is my new summer side project.

Has anyone noticed if a 1930 banner is hanging in the Fieldhouse? I don't recall ever seeing one. I think a team that played for a national championship in basketball, regardless of it not being an NCAA sanctioned sport or not having been settled in a tournament format, is deserving of some kind of recognition. Obviously if any of our teams in the recent past even made it to what is now known as the Sweet Sixteen there would probably be something to commemorate the event.